Body and yoke press



Nov. 13, 1962 E. DAVIS BODY AND YOKE PRESS Filed Oct. 15, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

S Y W M mm w m M p H s E. DAVIS BODY AND YOKE PRESS Nov. 13, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 15, 1959 m m'v E %A N T D m T Wm m E N R E Q Y B Nov. 13, 1962 E. DAVIS 3,063,605

BODY AND YOKE PRESS Filed 0012. 15, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 j/ ,2 j -40 E r'z 14 27 1 2 1 13 INVENTOR.

ERNEST DAVIS ATTORNEY United States Patentfi ware Filed Oct. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 846,650 Claims. (Cl. 22357) The present invention relates to pressing machines, and more particularly to a machine for pressing garments.

Present day laundry operations include the pressing or ironing of the various parts of a shirt such as the cuffs, sleeves, collar and yoke, and the bosom on different and distinctive pieces of equipment. Such pressing operations, which are conventionally performed in a usual order, leave the yoke and bosom pressing operations until last. This invention is concerned with the improvement of the machinery and the quality of the work done by such machinery as is employed for the finishing of the yoke and bosom of a shirt. Various disadvantages are inherent in present day equipment. Among these is the disadvantage of certain types of pressing machines in that they do not properly accommodate shirts of all sizes, resulting in poorly finished and wrinkled shirts. Such types of machines further require more than one ironing operation to completely finish a shirt, resulting in much operator time for the pressing operations. In many cases, the yokes of shirts were improperly finished, due to the requirement for separate ironing elements on such machines. Certain types of present day machines also provide for the stretching of shirts during the pressing operation of the bosom, in order to iron the bosoms without wrinkling. However, it has been found that the stretching ofthe shirts has been carried out in such a manner as to stretch the shirt out of size. Moreover, such machines are not adapted to completely finish the yoke and the bosom together in a single operation, thus consuming much operator time.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to pro- .vide a pressing machine for effecting the complete finishing of the yoke and bosom of a garment in a single operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a pressing machine for completely finishing the yoke and bosom of ashirt together in a single operation in a manner whereby the shirt is expanded or stretched to its normal size only, and excessive stretching is avoided.

A further object of this invention is to accomplish the complete finishing of the yoke and bosom of a shirt with a minimum number of ironing elements, reducing the r ;quirement for operator time, equipment, cost, and the probability of down time of equipment.

It is another important object of this invention to provide a buck for finishing the bosom and yoke of a shirt, whereby all shirt sizes may be accommodated.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from time to time from the following detailed specification and drawings.

In carrying out the objects of this invention, there is provided ,a pressingmachine having a garment buck for supporting a garment thereon, a pair of opposing pressing heads mounted forrnovemen-t into and out of contact with the buck,-means for moving the heads into contact with the buck in a generally inward and downward direction, and means for expanding the buck outwardly against the pressing heads upon completion of the closing of the heads into contact with the buck.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a pressing machine, partiy in cross section, and illustrating a general arrangement of garment buck and pressing heads.

' may be mounted on the frame 11 of the cabinet.

I 3,%3,6% Patented Nov. 13, 1962 FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the machine according to FIGURE 1, with portions cut away.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the machine, in part, illustrating the relationship of the pressing heads to the buck when the buck is between the heads.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view, showing the heads closed around the buck.

In FIGURE 1, a pressing machine is generally indicated at 10, and has a frame 11, which may be enclosed by any suitable cabinet. A pair of spaced rails 14 extend substantially the length of the cabinet, and a table 12 is mounted as on rollers or wheels 13 which ride on the spaced rails 14 to permit the movement of the table 12 into and out of the cabinet frame 11. The table 12 is shown as being in the loading position at the front (left) end of the machine and-is adapted to be moved by means (not shown) into the cabinet. A garment buck, generally indicated at 20, is mounted on the table 12 for movement into and out of the cabinet from the loading position. A pair (one being shown in FIGURE 1) of pressing heads are generally indicated at 40, and are mounted within the cabinet.

The buck 20 has a bosom portion 23, and a yoke portion 24, and is also provided with a neck hand holding portion 21, which may be provided with a collar clamp,

not shown. A pair of expander wings 22, of conventional type, may be mounted within the buck 20 for expanding the bosom portion of a shirt (not shown) dressed on the buck. A bosom clamp 25, which is well known'to those skilled in the art, may be employed for holding the front portions of the'bosom of a shirt dressed on the buck 2t). Expanders 26 for the sleeves of a shirt may be mounted to extendfrom those portions of the buck 20 which are adjacent the shoulders of a shirt.

FIGURE 2 further illustrates the structure of the machine as described above. It will be observed that the rollers or wheels 13, acting with the spaced rails 14, provide means for moving the table 12 and the buck 20 thereon into and out of position between the opposing pressing heads 40. it will also become apparent that each pressing head 40 is mounted on'a parallelogram type linkage. Bearings 43 are fastened to the outer sides of the heads 4%. Links of the toggle type, as at '44, are connected to the bearings 43, and'to bearings 45, which Connected to the links 44 for each head 40 is an operating bar 46, the other end of which is connected to a crossbar 48 as at a bearing 47. The crossbar 48 is connected to one end of a piston rod 49 of cylinder 59, which cylinder 50 is mounted on any frame member 51 of the machine '10. It will be observed that movement of the piston rod 49 by reason of the application of air pressure in the cylinder '50 will move'the crossbar 48 downwardly, along with the operating bars 46, to move the links 44 about the bearings '45 and thus swing the pressing heads 40 inwardly and downwardly against the garment buck 2%.

With respect also to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3,'it will become apparent that the pressing heads 40 are provided with flange-like portions 41 which substantially enclose the expander Wings 22 of the garment buck 20. The yoke pressing portions 42 of the heads 40 are shaped so as to entirely enclose the yoke portion of a garment dressed on the buck 20. 7

FIGURE 4 illustrates the buck 20 and heads 40 in closed position, and in cross section. The buck 20 is provided with an upper padded portion 34 underlying the yoke portion of the buck surface (portion 24). The bosom portionZS, both front and back, of the buck 20 is provided with springs 35 after the manner of theconventional inner-spring mattress. This spring padding 35 is described in detail in the Patent Number 2,807,396, issued September 24, 1957, to Ernest Davis. The basic construction and operation of the pressing machine is also shown and described in detail in said patent.

A central actuator-support bar 30 is connected at its lower end through a bearing 27 in the table 12 to an air cylinder 28. At the upper end of the bar 30 is a bear.- ing to which a pair of links 32 are connected. The outer ends of the links 32 are connected to the inner sides of the buck 29. Similar links 31 are positioned near the lower end at the inside of the buck 20, and are also connected to the main support bar 30. A spring 33 is positioned between the upper end of the bar 30 and the inside of the padded portion 34 of the yoke portion 24 of the buck 20. The lower end of the bar 30 is fastened to a piston 29 inside the cylinder 28. Compressed air in the cylinder 28 below the piston 29 will move the piston 29 and bar 30 upwardly through the buck 20, expanding the sides of the bosom portion 23 outwardly against the heads 40. The action of the rod 30 will also compress the spring 33, tending to expand the yoke portion 24 of the buck 20 against the yoke portions 42 of the heads 40. When the heads 40 are in position in contact with the buck 20, it will become apparent that their yoke portions 42 completely enclose the yoke portion 24 of the buck and are mated together as at 52.

In operating the machine 10, the elements of the machine are first in the general position according to FIG- URE 1. That is, the buck Z is in the leading position at the front of the machine, and the heads 40 are in the open position, as shown in FIGURE 2. A shirt is dressed on the machine buck 20 by the operator, with the collar button buttoned. A collar clamp (not shown) may be actuated to retain the collar and yoke portions of the shirt (not shown) on the buck 20; and the bosom clamp 25 may be actuated to retain the front portions of the bosom of the shirt in position on the machine. The buck 20 is then moved along the spaced rails 14 to a position between the opposed pressing heads 40, and the expander wings 22 of the buck may also be actuated at this time to expand the bosom of the shirt smoothly for a preliminary elimination of wrinkles in the bosom. The cylinder 50 is then actuated to. cause the heads 40 to close downwardly and inwardly against the buck 20 as described hereinabove. It will become apparent that, as the heads 49 close against the buck 20 with an inward and a downward motion, the shirt will be smoothed downwardly over the buck so as to smoothly take out any wrinkles. Immediately as the heads 40 close about the buck, the cylinder 28 is actuated to operate the main support bar 30, expanding the bosom of the buck 20 outwardly with ironing pressure against the heads, which may be heated by the application of steam in the chambers 53. At the same time, the spring 33 expands the yoke portion of the buck 20 against the yoke portions 42 of the heads 40. In this manner, the shirt is expanled to its full size only, but is not stretched beyond its proper size. This is in contrast to the former methods where the shirt was fully expanded or stretched, and then pressed.

It will become apparent that, with the shirt dressed on the buck and the expander wings expanded, the shirt is only subjected to. a, preliminary expanding, which takes up any extra fullness in the bosom over that which is accommodated by the buck. 'After the shirt is preliminarily expanded, the heads are closed against the shirt on the buck, the pressure being less than the full ironing pressure exerted on the shirt. Moreover, the slight downward movement of the heads onto, the buck, which movement is imparted to the heads by the parallelogram linkage, causes the heads to smooth the shirtdownwardly over the buck, taking out the wrinkles." Even then, there is a slight spacebetween the yoke portion of the buck andthe loke portionof the heads immediately 'following the closing of the heads downwardly and inwardly onto the-buck. At this pointrthe main support bar for the buck is actuated, expanding the bosom portion of the buck outwardly with full ironing pressure against the heads. The main support bar also causes the spring 33 to expand the yoke portion (padded) of the buck upwardly in the space with full ironing pressure against the yoke portion of the heads, expanding the shirt from top to bottom as well. By this invention, those skilled in the art will readily observe that a shirt can only be stretched to its proper size, but not beyond. This is due to the limiting effect of the closed pressing heads against the buck when the buck is expanded to its full size to exert full ironing pressure on the shirt.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described for the purposes of illustration only, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to this embodiment, but is to be construed only as falls within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

-I claim:

1. A pressing machine including opposed pressing heads, a garment buck mounted for movement into and out of position between said pressing heads, said buck being able to be expanded, means for moving said pressing heads downwardly and inwardly against said buck when said buck is in position between said heads, and means for expanding said buck against said pressing heads when said pressing heads are in position enclosing said buck.

2. A pressing machine including opposed pressing heads, a garment buck mounted for movement into and out of position between said pressing heads, said buck including expandable portions thereof for ironing the bosom and yoke portions of a garment dressed thereon, means for moving said pressing heads downwardly and inwardly into a position enclosing said buck when said buck is between said pressing heads, said pressing heads including portions thereof for enclosing the said yoke ironing portions of said buck, and means in said buck for expanding said bosom and yoke ironing portions against said pressing heads with full ironing pressure.

3. A pressing machine including opposed pressing heads, a garment buck mounted for movement into and out of position between said pressing heads, said buck including a separable portion thereof for ironing the bosom of a garment thereon and a separable portion thereof for ironing the yoke of a garment dressed thereon, an actuator bar mounted within said buck and links connecting said bar with said bosom ironing portion for expanding said portion and a spring means actuated by said bar for expanding said yoke ironing portion, means for moving said pressing heads downwardly and inwardly against said buck when said buck is in position between said heads, and means for actuating said bar when said buck is in position between said heads for expanding said bosom ironing portion and said yoke ironing portion against said pressing heads.

4. A pressing machine including opposed pressing heads, a garment buck mounted for movement into and out of position between said pressing heads, said buck including a portion thereof for ironing the bosom of a garment thereon and a portion thereof for ironing the yoke of a garment dressed thereon, an actuator bar mounted within said buck and links connecting said bar with said bosom ironing portion for expanding said portion and a spring means actuated by said bar for expanding said yoke ironing portion, said pressing heads including portions thereof for enclosing said yoke ironing portion of said buck, and means for actuating said bar when said buck is in position between said heads for applying said bosom ironing portion and said yoke ironing portion against said pressing heads.

5. A pressing machine including opposed pressing heads, a garment buck mounted for movement into pressing relationship with said pressing heads, said buck in cluding a portion thereof for pressing the body of a garment and a portion thereof for pressing the yoke of a garment thereon, an actuator member mounted within said buck and links connecting said member with said body pressing portion, and a resilient means between said actuator member and the yoke pressing portion, means for moving said pressing heads into pressing relationship wtih the garment buck and means for actuating said actuator member to expand said body and yoke portions of said buck against said pressing heads, thereby pressing said body and yoke portions of said garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Richa May 26, 1942 Hitz Jan. 4, 1955 Maxwell et a1 May 13, 1958 Langen et a1. Mar. 3, 1959 Weihmayr Sept. 5, 1960 

